Motorcycle Nation Podcast

I was guided to a blog the other day called Forty Years on Two Wheels where the author was on a rant about the quality of American motorcycle shows. His evaluation discussed the fact that most seemed low budget and revolved around the V-Twin motorcycles. He went on to point out that the coverage is focused at Daytona, Sturgis, and other traditional American Iron gatherings. And he even mentioned the hosts. The feuding Teutuls, the ex racers, and the well endowed, none of which he considers to be worthy.

I love my V-Twin. As a matter of fact there are two products of the Motor Company sitting in my garage. But, I have to agree with the author. The world outside of HD and V-Twins has so much to offer and we need someone to step up and produce a show. I personally would love to see a show on adventure bikes. Maybe a shootout to crown the champion. I have my eye set on the BMW F800GS and would welcome the opportunity for a full review of the off highway capabilities. A show profiling the sport tourers would be cool too. A Honda ST1300 or that old reliable Kawasaki Concours could hold a spot in my garage as well.

I don’t want this blog to be a Harley only blog. Invite all your friends here so we can talk all motorcycles. Maybe someone with some pull will see that there is a need for a TV show that focuses on every brand of motorcycle and every type of riding. If you know someone, put the bug in their ear.

Ride Safe

I don’t know if my stars and moons are aligned or not but things are just right for me right now. My kids are happy and fed, my wife is beautiful, I still have a job, and the Softail is on the road again. After a few weeks of electrical problems I thumbed the starter on Monday night and she roared to life. It was an oh so sweet sound to my ears.

During the down time my wife let me ride her bike to work and to teach motorcycle safety classes (thank you Baby). She rides a 2006 883 Sportster that I bought her for Christmas in ‘07. The bike has served me well over this time and I am thankful that we had a spare in the garage for me to use. I found out some things about Sportys during this time that I was not totally aware of. The first thing is that these bikes are extremely responsive to the twist of the throttle. Sure, I had heard they were peppy but I had not experienced it. They jump very quickly when you crank the throttle, even with me on it. I was also extremely impressed with the gas mileage. I was able to get 53 mpg which is about 10 mpg better than I get with the Softail.

The other thing that I learned about a Sportster is that I am way too big for it. Now, I know that those of you who know me personally are seeing images having to do with a monkey and a football if you know what I mean. My knees were way up the sides of the tank and I could not see out of the mirrors without moving my elbows in to my sides and giving a slight lean away from the mirror. Not the safest way to ride but hey, I had to do something. The other thing that I learned is that some people will make fun of you no matter what.

I took some heavy ribbing from fellow instructors and other riders when they saw me pull up on that bike. But, you really know that you are riding the wrong motorcycle when you come upon a scooter rider approaching you from the other direction and as you pass you can see the heavy, gut wrenching laughter coming from him. All I can tell you right now is that I will ride it if the Softail goes down again. But, this time I will wear my full face helmet!

Ride Safe…on the bike that fits you! LOL

I am starting this post as I begin to get ready for the race. I have not attended any of the practice sessions or qualifying up to this point because I was playing Mr. Mom the past few days. So, my stepson and I will be making some of the practice this morning and then on to the racing. All I know right now is that the front row will be Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Rossi. Spaniard Pedrosa scorched the Brickyard track on his Repsol Honda with a pole position record breaking run of 1:39.730. Indy is the closest thing to home for the Kentucky Kid Nicky Hayden and he has turned in his best effort on the factory Marlboro Ducati qualifying sixth while temp rider Mika Kallio crashed in qualifying and took a fifteenth spot. This is good news for Nicky as he has struggled all year on the Desmo and needs some good shows to keep that ride for 2010. But, if it ends up that he is forced from Ducati it is looking like the Rizla Suzuki bikes may be open. It will be interesting to see who ends up where next year. It is time to get moving and drive to Indy. Speed, spills, and thrills await!

Well, it has been a couple weeks since the race was ran and we had a great time. We had tickets in the first turn but only stayed there for the 250cc race. For the 125cc race we met up with friend of the show Dan Lo from CornerSpeedPhoto Below is a pic of me and Dan outside turn 2. You can tell that neither me or my son are photographers.

Me and Dan Lo outside Turn 2 at Indy MotoGP 2009

We walked around the track and ended up on the hill outside of turn 10 for the Premier class. From this vantage point you can see the pack leave turn 9 and motor down the back stretch. From there you have an open view of them braking for turn 10 and running through the 180 turn 11. Throttling out of 11 we could see them pick up speed for turns 12 and 13 where they dropped behind a rise in the track and we could get a glimpse of the bikes running through 14. 15 was out of sight but we could catch them as they motored out of the final turn and hit the front stretch headed for home.

We saw some pretty good racing early on but the race was pretty much over after both front runners Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda and Valentino Rossi on the Fiat Yamaha crashed out on the front side of the circuit. From there, Rossi’s teammate at Yamaha, Jorge Lorenzo pretty much only needed to stay on the motorcycle to ride to the win. The only excitement after that point was the battle for the final spot on the podium. Second place Alex DeAngelis ran a good race and slowly pulled away from Nicky Hayden leaving Nicky to battle off Andres Dovizioso for third. This was a favorable podium as Indy is considered Hayden’s hometown track. Track attendance was estimated at 76,000+ spectators so motorcycle racing is definitely welcome in Indiana.

Get your tickets for the 2011 Indianapolis Red Bull MotoGP now. Indianapolis puts on a great show and you won’t be sorry.

When you see or read that a motorcycle is a “special construction” motorcycle what does this mean to you? Does the picture in your mind produce images of a stretched out chopper? Do you see a pro street style construction with a massive fire breathing big inch motor? Whatever images are portrayed in your mind, I will bet that the pictures that you see below were not included.

These pictures were emailed to me today and I had to share them. The funny thing is that I received another email that was listing funny sayings and I am able to match up the pair after seeing both. One of the funny sayings was that “Beauty was in the eye of the beer holder”. I think that is an appropriate statement for this picture don’t you?

But, this picture does remind us what that dog with his head hanging out the car window and his lips and ears flapping in the wind knows. There is nothing better than being in the wind. People will do crazy things to experience that rush and this guy ingeniously has figured out a way to fulfill a need and be in the wind. He has the ability to haul a trailer, passenger, and looking at the trunk area, has plenty of room for storage.

Do you have any pics of these “special construction” bikes? If you do, send them to me at steve@mcnationpodcast.com and we will do a follow up post later on.

Hope you are all having a great Labor Day weekend!

Steve

We watch magicians on TV make things disappear all the time. And the illusionists amaze the masses by making things appear invisible. They both are well paid for doing this yet there is a group in this world that is able to do the same thing without making a dime and achieve the same results without even trying or wanting to. That group is called motorcyclists.

That is right. You, me, your spouse, your neighbor we are all invisible. Some people seem to have a problem picking up on a motorcycle traveling down the road. I find it hard to believe that someone can not see me, all 245 pounds of me, on a 650 pound motorcycle with a bright headlight traveling towards the intersection that they are getting ready to enter right in front of me forcing me to take evasive actions. Yet no less than three times the past two weeks I have found myself in this situation. I guess I am invisible. Are you?

This is just a reminder to you that you should make sure you perform your pre ride checks. wear bright colored and reflective clothing, and pay attention to the cars on the road. Taking all the precautions does not insure your safety though. After all, once you get past the texters, talkers, and make up artists you still have the blind drivers that make you invisible.

Ride Safe